LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Northern Illinois University football team put up 493 yards of total offense Saturday night but could not pull even with the UNLV Rebels in a 31-24 loss at Allegiant Stadium Saturday night.
"Tonight was back and forth and football games come down to inches, they come down to critical penalties, they come down to execution on fourth and third down," said head coach
Rob Harley following the game. "We out gained them in every category. I thought we were good on third down, both sides of the ball. This was born in practice. This was born in the last eight months of trying to come together. It was a photo finish. Race eight came down to a photo finish. We'll learn from it and we move on to race nine. We will be ready."
The Huskies outgained UNLV 493-473, with 240 yards rushing and 253 in the air. Redshirt-sophomore running back
Elijah Porter (Ankeny, Iowa/Centennial) rushed for a career-high 113 yards on 21 carries. Wide Receiver George Dimopoulous (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) had seven receptions for a career-high 127 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown reception.
Taron Dickens (Miami, Fla./Western Carolina) was 19-for-37 passing with two touchdowns.
UNLV (5-3, 3-1 MW) opened up the scoring with a 75-yard touchdown reception on the opening play of the game. The Huskies answered right back, marching down the field for a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Porter provided a spark with runs of 16 and 15 yards early in the drive. Dickens found
DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C./Lenoir-Rhyne) on a third-and-11 conversion to put
NIU inside the Rebels' 30. Three plays later on third-and-one,
Telly Johnson Jr. (Augusta, Ga./Hephzibah) bounced a run outside for a 20-yard score to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:57 to go in the first quarter.
The Rebels next drive chewed up five minutes of clock and got inside the Huskies 5-yard line, but NIU made three consecutive stops to hold UNLV to a field goal. NIU took a shot down the field on the opening play of the drive with Dickens hitting Dimopoulos for 33 yards. With the Huskies threatening to score inside the UNLV 20, Dickens found Rogers in the flat and the wide out plowed his way to the end zone to give NIU the 14-10 lead just before the end of the opening quarter.
NIU (0-8, 0-4 MW) opened the second quarter with
Brady Kerperin (Jefferson City, Mo./Iowa Western CC) recording an interception and returning it to midfield. The Huskies converted a pair of third downs on the drive following the pick and capped it with a 27-yard field goal from
JJ Schlenhardt (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South), extending the lead to 17-10.
UNLV used a pair of explosive plays to advance the ball down the field and tie the game at 17-17, scoring on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Arnold to Keyan Barnett. NIU was able to move into Rebels territory on its next possession, but missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with 2:51 before the half. The Rebels took advantage of the missed field goal and used an 11-play drive to take the lead before halftime, finishing the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to pull ahead 24-17.
The two sides traded 60-yard touchdowns in the third quarter. UNLV got a 60-yard rushing touchdown from Jai'Den Thomas with 11:18 to go in the quarter to give the Rebels a 31-17 advantage. NIU punched back with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Dickens to Dimopolous, bringing the score to 31-24 at the 9:31 mark.
A sack from
Amari Washington (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) forced UNLV into a third and long as the Huskies made UNLV punt for the first time of the night. The following NIU drive stalled out, leading to
Jake Ference (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) pinning his second punt of the night inside the 20-yard line.
UNLV converted a fake punt and got a pass interference on third down helped advance the Rebels to their own 39-yard line. On the next play,
Champ Smith III (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) made a leaping interception inside the 5-yard line to give the ball back to the Huskies with 2:53 left in the quarter. NIU was held scoreless on its last three possessions to come up on the short end of a 31-24 scoreline.
NIU held UNLV to one touchdown in the second half and forced three punts, including two in the fourth.
"Obviously in the second half we got some things figured out defensively," Harley said. "They responded to what they saw. They just kept fighting. They keep showing up every single day."
The Huskies had the ball for over 35 minutes Saturday night and were 9-for-17 on third down.
Jack Murray (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) and
Jashawn Nelson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wayne) led the NIU defense with nine tackles apiece.
NIU is back on the road next Saturday, Nov. 7, to take on the San Jose State Spartans. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on MW+.
—NIU—
